Posts Tagged ‘daedalus incident’

Stephanie Meyer has written a new version of Twilight with the major roles gender-reversed. There’s now a female vampire pursuing a young male human. (Disclaimer: I haven’t read Twilight.) It’s apparently pretty much a word-for-word reprint with a few mistakes fixed and the aforementioned gender switch. It’s bundled with the anniversary edition of Twilight; at least the publisher’s not charging separately, which to me would be a rip-off. So…go for it.

On the other hand, Michael Martinez, author of the Daedalus trilogy of SF/fantasy/alternate history, just posted an essay talking about leaving his successful series to start a new project. (Disclaimer: Michael is an acquaintance. Second disclaimer: The Daedalus Incident is awesome. The others are on my TBR list.) He has no assurances it will work out for him, but he feels his Daedalus characters have reached their logical conclusion. Again, I say–go for it.

Two authors, one with an extremely successful trilogy, the other with a critically-acclaimed trilogy. One is tilling the same ground for what will doubtless be another best-seller, the other is striking out in a new direction. Is one route better than the other? That depends on what you want out of your writing.

But I’m more interested here in journeys than goals. A lot of writers have worked in other writers’ universes, some quite successfully. I’m not talking about work for hire, like a Star Wars novel, for example. I’m talking about writing new Sherlock Holmes stories, or Chthulu mythos, or even pastiches such as I’ve written in the style of P.G. Wodehouse. Is that less meritorious than creating a completely original piece?

As little as I know about Twilight, I assume that the characters have completed their arcs. If they haven’t, keep going. I love series. Most readers do. Just ask mystery fans. But is going back and re-writing the same book with sex-swapped characters just tilling someone else’s field, even if the “someone else” is you?

Every writer, when it comes down to it, is looking to make some money, maybe even enough to live on. I have authors and forms I prefer, other people have theirs. It’s a big world; there’s room for all of us. And if I want to tell other people how to live their lives, I’ll just write a story and they’ll all do exactly as I say. Because when you write, that’s what your characters do.